Track tool



P. J. GILLVEN 2,016,326

TRACK TOOL Filed Sept. 21, 1932 I N V EN TOR. PV/LL/P J lLLE/V BYfldwzwib,

ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 8, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRACK TOOL Phillip J.Gillen, Greenwood, Mass. Application September 21, .1932, Serial No.634,108

4 I Claims.

This invention relates to railroad track tools and more particularly totools for placing and locating ballast such as cinders, gravel, dirt orthe like, underneath the ties of a railroad track for the purpose ofleveling up the track.

This work is ordinarily done by jacking upthe track and tie at the lowpoint and then forcing and tamping gravel or ballast down beneath thetie by the use of a shovel or tamping bar along the sides of the tie. Inthis operation the old road bed as well as the solid bed under the tieis disturbed to a considerable degree making it necessary to redress andclean up the bed and trim the track back to normal. This not onlyrequires additional time for the work itself but provides greaterlatitude for the track settling in its disturbed bed as will beunderstood. By the use of my invention it is only necessary to jack upthe track and then place the ballast directly under the bottom of thetie where needed, this action being carried out without disturbing inthe least either the road bed as a Whole or the solid bed already formedunder the tie.

It is the primary object of my invention to provide a long bladed tracktoo-l upon which a layer of ballast may be placed and then the blade andballast inserted lengthwise in under the tie and there deposited.

It is a further object to provide a long bladed track tool of the kindreferred to, the blade being perforated at spaced intervals with smallholes or perforations through which the load of ballast upon the blademay be shaken to its bed, after the blade has been inserted under thetie.

Still another object is to provide a track tool of the kind referred to,the same having a relatively long, thin and narrow blade, the said bladebeing perforated with a plurality of triangular perforations with pointsthereof turned directly forward, for facilitating the working of ballastin under a railroad tie, and for sifting the ballast evenly over its bedunder the tie.

With these and such other objects and advantages in View as may bedeveloped in the following specification, attention is directed to theaccompanying drawing, wherein is embodied a practical form of myinvention, and wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improvedtrack tool.

Figure 2 is a side elevation on a reduced scale, showing the tool as inuse for laying ballast under a railroad tie, a portion of the tie beingbroken away and the road bed being shown in section.

Figure 3 is a fragmental enlarged cross section along the line 3-3 inFigure 1 showing the sharpened or beveled margins of the apertures inthe blade.

The invention comprises a long, narrow and thin blade i of temperedsteel or any other suitable material, and to which is secured at one end5 the offset handle 2. The blade is rounded or arcuate at its forwardend 3, and is pierced with a plurality of apertures 4. These aperturesare preferably triangular in plan with points or apices 5 thereofdirected forwardly and bases 6 10 rearwardly, and are preferably spacedregularly over the entire surface of the blade, all as shown in thedrawing. The blade I may be of any desired length and width. A length ofthree feet and a width of one-half foot have been found in practise toconstitute very convenient dimensions.

In the use of the tool, the tie I is jacked up by means of a jack 8. Alayer of ballast 9 is then spread along the blade I, after which theblade is thrust lengthwise or endwise under the tie. By then shaking thetool, the ballast is caused to fall or sift evenly down through theaperture 4 onto the bed 10. After a suflicient quantity of ballast hasthus been deposited under the tie, same may be very conveniently tampedback in place under the tie by reciprocating the tool endwise for thispurpose. In such operation the triangular formation of the aperture l isof advantage, in that the bases 6 of the apertures being disposedtransversely of the line of movement of the tool, serve to catch theparticles of ballast and shove same forwardly upon the forward movementof the blade, whereas upon the reverse or rearward movement of theblade, those same particles will ride up over the inclined margins ofthe apertures. In order to facilitate such action, those inclined orconverging margins may be sharpened or beveled as shown at H, the bases6, however, being left blunt. The arcuate forward end 3 of the bladeserves to force and tamp the ballast both forwardly and laterally, so asto fill all crevices and provide a solid bearing for the tie.

While I have herein described a certain specific manner and method ofconstructing and assembling the elements of my invention, it isunderstood that I may vary from the same in minor details, not departingfrom the spirit of my invention, so as best to construct a practicaldevice for the purpose intended, as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

I. A tool for placing and locating ballast underneath the ties of arailroad track, comprising 5 a thin elongated blade of sufiicient lengthto extend for a considerable distance under a railway tie, said bladebeing pierced with a pluthe blade, said handle being ofiset andpositioned at a higher elevation than said blade, whereby pscillation ofthe blade is effected.

2. A tool for placing and locating ballast underneath the tiesof arailroad track, comprising a thin elongated blade of sufiicent length toextend for a considerable distance under a railway tie, said blade beingpierced throughout substantially its entire length with series oftriangular apertures through which the ballast is'adapted to pass uponoscillation of the blade, and a handle secured to the rear end of theblade, said handle being ofiset and positioned at a higher elevationthan said blade, whereby oscillation of the blade is efiected.

3. A tool for placing and locating ballast underneath the ties of arailroad track, comprising an elongated flat blade of sufficient lengthto extend for a considerable distance under a railway tie, said bladehaving series of apertures extending throughout substantially the lengththereof,

through which the'ballast is adapted to pass upon 7 oscillation of theblade, and a handle secured to one end of said blade and having aportion arranged at a higher elevation than the blade and 7 extend for aconsiderable distance under a railway tie, said blade being pierced witha plurality of triangularapertures through which the 15 ballast isadapted to pass upon oscillation of the blade,'marginal edges of saidapertures being beveled and terminating in sharp edges, and a handlesecured to one end of said blade and having a portion arranged at ahigher elevation than 20 the blade and extending substantially paralleltto the blade, whereby oscillation of the blade is efiected.

PHILLIP J. GILLEN.

